In the days before everything was calm
The children would run and laugh and play.
But that was a day that was long ago;
A day before the fence was there.

When the world hadn’t turned its back on them
When sunshine still poured through the sky
When everything was as it seemed
A day before the fence was there.

But now there was no world beyond
Just walls of wire and strife
With nothing to do but grow up or dream
Of a day before the wall was there

But, I’ve heard it said before that
“When you grow up, your heart dies.”
So they live in another world, another day,
A day before the fence was there

From German sin comes Yiddish song
From darkness they grasped a shining light
In their young eyes we see a better day
A day before the fence was there

The hope they hid beneath yellow stars
Gave them the keys to other worlds, other times
Through song they found the way to escape that wall
To a day before the fence was there.